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Albuquerque, N.M. – The University of New Mexico athletic department is proud to announce that R.D. Hubbard and his wife Joan Dale have made a $500,000 donation to Lobo Baseball that will help fund additional improvements to Lobo Field. This marks the largest donation to date for the renovation of Lobo Field and will provide the Hubbards with the naming rights to a brand new clubhouse for the baseball team, pending approval by the UNM Board of Regents.

“I am blown away by the incredible generosity of R.D. and Joan Dale,” said Lobo Baseball head coach Ray Birmingham. “Our ballpark has received an incredible facelift over the last year and the new clubhouse is the next step in completely upgrading Lobo Field. It will provide a place for our baseball student-athletes to gather and prepare for practice or games, and I cannot thank R.D. and Joan Dale enough for stepping up to the plate to help us. Their compassion for New Mexico and its people brings tears to my eyes.”

The R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Clubhouse will include locker rooms, restrooms, showers, a training room, storage, and a player’s lounge next door to the newly renovated Lobo Field. The Athletics Department plans to break ground on the new clubhouse in early 2014. This will be the latest phase of the renovation of Lobo Field, which has already included over $3.5 million in upgrades. So far, the transformation of Lobo Field has included the installation of FieldTurf, bleachers, new dugouts, new bullpens, an updated outfield wall, a new scoreboard, and beautiful landscaping surrounding the park.

“Supporting Coach Birmingham and Lobo Baseball is something that my wife and I really wanted to do,’’ said R.D. Hubbard. “Ray’s program is a source of pride for the entire state of New Mexico, and we want to demonstrate our support for his program by making this contribution. We're looking forward to seeing the Lobos in the College World Series really soon.”

R.D. and Joan Dale live in Ruidoso, N.M. and have made a tremendous impact on the state of New Mexico through their philanthropic efforts. Currently, Hubbard is chairman of R.D. Hubbard Enterprises, a company based in Ruidoso, NM and Palm Desert, Calif., that manages Hubbard’s business interests that include golf courses, racing, and real estate. He also owns the Ruidoso Downs racetrack and is the chairman of Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert.

Under Birmingham the last six seasons, the Lobos have proved to be one of the top programs in all of college baseball. UNM is one of only 18 teams in the nation to advance to the NCAA tournament in each of the last four seasons. Additionally, the program has produced 21 Major League Baseball draft picks, two team national batting titles, an individual national batting champion, and three straight Mountain West titles. After moving back to Lobo Field in March of last season, the team posted a 14-2 record.